Of Monsters and Magic
by books bands and a badass
Summary: Blake Swan is a Witch, not like Harry Potter, but a Witch none the less. She's also Belle's protector; she's been watching out for Belle since she was five years old, and with the Cullens gone she can finally take a brake. One day though she gets a call from a frantic Charlie and she dragged back into Forks. Belle and Edward bashing. Better than it sounds there's just no room left.
1. The Call

**OKAY! So this is my second story on here, the first being The Shadow Hunting Gryffindore from Camp Half Blood, but this is my first Twilight fic. My BFF is my beta and yeah, there's still possibly a lot of spelling issues. The story does contain a lot of swearing and a fair deal of Latin, but you'll find out what everything means along with the characters in the story. This story _does _contain a lot of Belle and Edward bashing, and a fair amount of Jake bashing, but this isn't the point of this. Anyway, I've put a lot of hard work into this, and this is the first time I've ever broken 3000 words on a chapter, so please be nice. Comment ehat you think! THANKS TO ANYBODY READING THIS!**

**Disclaimer: It's called fanfiction for a reason! but, I do not own Twilight, any of the bands I will reference or anything really that you recognize from the outernet. **

**BLAKE'S**_** POV**_

It all started when I was five, and Uncle Charlie asked me to look after Belle. Like, for the rest of our lives. I remember that day in vivid detail.

_Belle had turned three last weekend, but we had to throw the party today, the Saturday after. We had a lot of the quilute boys over, along with some of Belle's annoying friends from school. She was wearing a pretty pink dress with her hair in pigtails and tights and little ballet flats. Me, on the other hand, I had on one of my Dad's old band shirts that were long enough to be gowns, so we had tied it off at the side. I also had on legging and those high tops made for kids. My hair was long then, brown too, but I had left it down._

_About half way through the party, Belle had tripped and hurt herself at _least _four times already. A few minutes after her fifth fall, Uncle Charlie had called my Dad and me over closer to the woods than I was usually allowed to go. That was my first indication that I should have stayed put, but, like any five year old, I was just plain excited I was finally allowed to be this close to the animals' homes. "What is it C?" Daddy had asked, even going as far to use his old nickname for Uncle Charlie, but Uncle Charlie was still frowning. "You told me when Blake was born that she was special. Remember that?" Uncle Charlie asked and Daddy nodded, smiling down at me. "She was special then and she's special now." I smiled at that. "What's this about C?" Dad was using that tone that made every five year old scared. It was the dreaded I-know-what's-going-on-but-I-need-to-hear-you-say-it-out-loud tone. Uncle Charlie sighed heavily and set his gaze on me. "Just _how _special is she? Like the special every Dad says his daughter is or like, the Family Secret special?" the look that that question had put on my Daddy's face made me want to slap Uncle Charlie. "_Both._" Daddy spit out. I knew about the "Family Secret" that Uncle Charlie was talking about. In my family, the first born on my Dad's side of the family is always…Special. As in not quite human. Warlock was the gender-neutral term we used throughout the community and at home. "Look, I remember you telling me that your daughter was supposed to be given someone to protect, and you told me it should be a sibling, but, I figured with Martha-" Daddy never let him finish. "Don't Charlie. I know what you're gonna ask and it's not up to me. It's up to Blake. Ask _her_." all of the playfulness was gone. Uncle Charlie looked at me again. "Blake… You understand that you are an only child right? And that with your Mommy in Heaven that you always will be?" Daddy growled, and I did too. _How dare he talk about Mommy like that?_ I thought angrily. I turned to walk away when Uncle Charlie called out in a loud whisper "I want you to be Belle's protector!" I froze, and then I turned around. I looked at him and then to my cousin, who was on the ground again. "Okay." I said. "I'll do it."_

I shouldn't have done it. I had thought Belle was dumb and accident prone then, but she was 100% more so now. It started with the vampires, and now according to Uncle Charlie, it's ending with the wolves.

I was _so_ screwed.

*14 YEARS LATER*

I had just walked in the door to my best friend's house when the phone started to ring. "Hey, Loser! Your phone's ringing!" I called out to her. I heard her sigh and thump down the stairs towards the phone.

"Hello? Oh, hello Charlie. What can I do for you?... Of course, she's right here." There was a pause as she shifted the phone. "BLAKE! IT'S YOUR UNCLE!" She yelled to me. "OKAY!" I yelled back. We were two feet away. I heard Uncle Charlie sigh on the other end of the line.

"Yellow?" I answered, he sighed again. "I have an issue."

"You have many issues."

"Blake." His tone was warning.

"Sorry, sorry. What's your issue?"

"I need you to come back to Forks. Belle… she's in trouble. You helped clear up the whole James fiasco, but now she's seen the wolves." I stopped breathing. My world lost its colour and started to spin. _Belle knew. I've almost failed as a protector twice now. Why does she have to be so stupid?! Why can't she leave everything that lies beyond the Veil _alone_?! She's _human_ for fuck's sake._

"How long do I have?"

"Three days at most."

"I'll be there in two."

"Bye- oh and Blake? I really am sorry about this, you know that, right?"

"Of course. Bye."

I turned back to look at Emilia. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave," she looked upset, but still she nodded. I sighed and followed me upstairs to help pack.

"Why do you have to leave? You've only been here for four months? You were supposed to stay for the whole year." She asked, handing me a top that said _Whatever Doesn't Kill Me Had Better Start Running_ and another one saying _Whatever Doesn't Kill Me Should Have Tried Harder_. "I know, I know, but gods forbid Belle ever leaves well enough alone." I could see the anger in her blue/grey eyes. Her eyes always had reminded me of the sky above the sea when there was a storm, never quite all blue or all grey, but, instead, constantly switching between the two a rapid pace. I sighed, shaking my head. "Believe me, if I could, I would stay here and let Belle pull her own dumbass out of trouble, but you know I can't." she nodded sadly and continued to help me pack.

"Blake? Can I ask you something?" I nodded, still throwing clothes and things into one of my bags. I knew what was coming, and I knew that if I looked at her while she asked, I wouldn't be able to answer her. "You're gonna come back right? You're not gonna leave me here? I know you think it's safe, but you of all people know how shifters get. They're angry and rash and violent. I don't want you to get hurt. You _will _be safe and careful, right?" I pulled open another bag, a more purse like one that was black with a white devil's trap on one side and a white pentagram on the other. They were kinda the same thing, only the inner markings were different.

"Of course," I lied. "I know these boys, they're a good group of people." Lie. "In fact, I was friends with, like, half of them when I was little." That one was a half-truth. I had been great friends with Leah, and Seth was a cool kid, but the rest? I only knew them through Belle, who knew them through Jake. Plus, Leah couldn't become a shifter and Seth was still young. "I'll be safe and home before you know it." So many lies.

I was putting my more dangerous stuff in this bag, the one with the devil's trap. All of my potion ingredients, along with stuff to make the more complicated spells and all my spell books fit inside. Call it copyrighting, but I used a spell that worked the same way as Hermione's did in Harry Potter.

"Are you scared? Of the shifters, I mean." I turned to look at her. She only knew about the shifters because I had told her that the only thing in Forks Belle _hadn't_ fucked with was them. "No, absolutely not." That wasn't a lie. I wasn't _scared_ of the shifters, I was _petrified_ of them. Also angry, I'll admit, but mainly petrified.

Emilia nodded and wrapped her arms around me. I buried my face in her earthy coloured hair and she shoved her face into my shoulder. "Okay," I said, pulling away from the hug. "Let's get this shit show on the road."

*two days later*

Finally, after two days of driving-on a motorcycle, mind you-I was in Forks. After another fifteen minutes of driving, three cat calls and four obscene gestures from me, I arrived at Charlie and Belle's place. I stopped the bike and walked up to the door.

I knocked on the door and the look on Charlie's face told me everything I needed to know. I was too late, she had left for La Push. "Did she…" I had to have it confirmed. Charlie nodded and I was back on the bike and halfway out of the driveway before he could say anything else.

_I can't have any time off can I? _I thought bitterly, blowing past the speed limit. The glowing trail I was following was getting brighter. _She's close. _I thought darkly. And then it happened. I caught a whiff of both Belle and the pack. I made possibly the sharpest left turn I've made yet and sped up the gavel path. The trail was almost blinding by the time they came into sight. There were four of them minus Jake and Belle, all of which were shifters. I could practically _see_ the tension in the air and I could hear Belle arguing with one if the boys.

"Well, I see our old meeting spot is still in use." I said sarcastically, after getting off of my bike. They had all been too caught up in the moment to notice me. Instead of happy, both Belle and Jake looked petrified. _Serves them right, if they had just _listened _to me for _once _in their lives, there would be like, no drama in this shitty town. _I thought bitterly. The entire pack looked uncomfortable over the fact that I was here. _Glad to know my reps still intact._

"B-Blake! What are you doing home? So early I mean." Jake was mumbling and stuttering. "Funny you should ask." I started. "You see, yesterday I got a phone call from a _very _distressed Charlie, implying something that goes against _everything _I asked of you. Now, that's simply outrageous, isn't it Jake, considering the only thing I have _ever _asked of you is to keep Belle in the dark? So, tell me, Jacob Black, was Charlie lying? Or, did you do the _exact opposite of what I asked you to do?" _I yelled the last part, ripping my hands out of the pockets of my black leather jacket. I was fuming and I knew it. I was about to yell again when Jake interrupted me.

"I know you're mad, but she had a right to know! You cannot control her forever and I wanted to tell her! She seems okay with it so what's the big deal?" the look I gave him made him pale as a Cullen.

"'What's the big deal?' JACOB BLACK THE BIG DEAL IS THAT YOU'VE DRAGGED HER BACK INTO THIS WORLD AFTER I FINALLY GOT HER OUT OF IT! YOU WENT AGAINST _EVERYTHING_ I ASKED YOU TO DO!" I was screaming a lot louder than needed, but I simply couldn't bring myself to care. Belle knew. Belle, who I have protected since we were children, was now in grave danger. "It wasn't ever even a _hard _thing to do! For Gods' sake all I asked of you was the same thing Sam did! I asked you to keep her in the dark, leave her out of this Gods' damned cluster fuck! It wasn't even really _your_ secret to tell either, now was it? No, you were banned by your _Alpha_ for fuck's sake! You know, people tell me _I _have authority issues, but this? This is border line comical." I spit. He was shaking at that point, and, I won't lie, ice cold _fear_ griped my heart. I quickly pushed it down and glared. "Shake all you like, it's not gonna change a thing." My voice was like my heart, surrounded by ice.

Jake must have gained a lot of nerve while I was away, because he puffed himself up and started to speak. "Who gave _you_ of all people the right to tell her how to live _her_ life? You have no _right _and no _need_ to. I can protect her_ just fine._" He said it between clenched teeth. I ground mine together and this time _I _was the one who was shaking.

"Who gave me the right? Charlie. When I was _five Gods' damned years old_ I was assigned to keep Belle safe. For the last _fourteen years _I've been keeping her alive, making sure she never saw what lies beyond the Veil. It worked too, for the most part. In fact, it wasn't until we moved back _here_ did the shit hit the fan. First with that Cullen kid, and now with _you._ And what exactly did you mean by "I can protect her just fine"? You and your pack are one of the reasons she's in danger. Protect her." I snorted. "At the moment you're her biggest threat."

"Blake. Stop." Belle choked out. I whipped my head around to look at her. "What do you mean by "assigned to protect her"?" I sighed, shaking my head. "Charlie never told you about the family curse. You see the, for the last ten thousand years of our blood line, it has been the oldest of the oldest of the oldest and so on and so forth, isn't human." I was cut off. "Then what _are_ you?!" glared. "I was _getting _there. The gender neutral term is Warlock. But, I am a Witch." I stood there, waiting for her to process this.

"I'm sorry, but, a _Witch_? The legends never spoke about you." A deep voice said. They were trying to be polite, but they were obviously unhappy with me. I turned around to come face-to-face with Sam Uley.

"Oh, they wouldn't have. Your Tribe and the Covenant have a strict negotiation that unless you're told by a singular conversation to people, never to mention one another." He looked confused. "Think of it like this. My best friend, Emilia, knows about you, and that's okay, but no legends are allowed to be passed down." He nodded.

"Why do _you _know?" Jacob asked, no, demanded. I turned back to him, the glare back on my face. "Because, Jacob, I was _attacked_ by one of your kind. I was warning her to be careful if she were to ever get close to one, because of the temper and phasing issues." I spit. This time though I literally spit at his feet.

He was shaking again, and that ice returned full force. This time though, it must have shown, because another wolf stepped in. "Jake, man, back off. She _just_ told you she was attacked by someone like us, she's probably terrified." Jake started to smirk. "Yeah, she's an old friend of yours, lay off." Another said. "Piss off, Jared. She's not an old friend, she's a tag along." He was full on smirking now. "I'm not scared," I lied. "I'm _angry_." That wasn't a lie, but I was more so scared than mad. "Please, you looked ready to cry before Embry stepped in." He growled. "Yeah? Well you, my dear boy, looked just about ready to piss yourself after I got off that bike." I shot back.

"Would you like to be attacked a second time?" he snarled. That did it. All the fear I had turned to ice, but then started to burn into something horrible. Something angry. Something _wicked_. The rest of the pack must have caught on because two of them, Embry and Sam, were trying to pull Jake back and calm him down.

"Bring. It. _On_." I snarled back. He shook violently before suddenly there was an admittedly beautiful wolf the size of a horse standing in front of me. For a split second, I allowed the fear to hit me full force. Only for a second though, because then I put on an arrogant smirk and spread my arms.

I felt it before I saw it, the heat and fire. It didn't hurt anymore, just a dull burn that had become oddly comforting over the years. When I opened my eyes, which I had not realized were closed, I saw the flames. They weren't on the ground or in the air, no, they were on _me_. They covered me head to toe, minus my eyes, which became black every time I used magic.

The whole pack, including Jacob, was standing still. Belle, on the other hand, was shaking like a leaf. "What's the matter, pup? Realized just what you were messing with?" I taunted. My voice was creepy, like, horror movie creepy. Jacob slowly backed up, obviously expecting me to take charge. I never did though.

"Phase back, put some clothes on. I have business to attend to." I waited until he was phased back and changed to smother the fire. Unlike the wolves, when I pulled stunts like this, my clothes stayed intact.

"Y-you're a _monster_!" Belle cried out. "No," I chuckled darkly "you were dating the monster." She flinched violently. I sighed.

"Belle, I've been watching out for you since we were children. In the past fourteen years, have I ever hurt you?" she shook her head. "Did I ever pressure you into anything?" again, her head shook. "Until you saw the flames, did you think I was soulless?" she shook her head yet again. I nodded solemnly. "Then how am I the monster?" she showed no signs she even heard me speak.

"H-how'd you do that?" Jake stuttered out. I looked at him. "Magic." He rolled his eyes. "Roll your eyes all you like, but you will _never_ find any scientific proof behind me surviving that, I'm afraid." He looked just about ready to attack me again. I shook my head at this. _Men,_ I thought darkly, _never learn, do they?_

"Why did you come here? To Forks, I mean. Why'd you come back?" Belle asked. "Because," I spit, "you've now condemned me. You're in danger, and the magic binding us won't let me leave now." Her eyes widened. "What magic binding us?" I sighed; I seemed to have to do that a lot around this lot. "Yes, Belle, there's magic binding us." I spoke slowly. She burst into tears. _The fuck? Why is _she_ crying?!_

"I-I'm so s-sorry." She hiccupped. Jake wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she collapsed into him. I sighed and stepped closer to her.

"Listen, it's okay. I'm still alive, and, more importantly, so are you. Everything is gonna be fine." I don't know why I felt the need to comfort her; I was actually still pretty pissed at her for not listening to me.

She nodded and wiped her face. "Where will you stay? Are you moving back in?" I bit my lip. "Let's talk about that later. For now, let's get you home." I tugged her arm gently, but she still clung to Jake. "We could go back to mine and Emily's place, if you like. It's not too far from here and she's always open to house guests." Sam offered. "You're more than welcome too, Blake, I know you probably want to stay with Belle." I smiled at him. "Thank You Sam that means a lot." He nodded.

"Jake, why don't you drive Belle's truck? Jared, ride in the back with Embry and Paul, you and I will run. Got it?" they all nodded. "Good."

They piled into Belle's truck and I got on my bike. The two boys, Sam and Paul, took off for the woods so we hit the road.

I should have known better than to think the storm had passed.


	2. The Calm Down

_**BLAKE'S POV**_

After about fifteen minutes of driving, we arrived at a cute, homey cabin next to the woods. When she saw us pull up, a pretty lady with scars that looked a lot like mine running down her face, stepped outside to greet us. _Emily, _I thought, _that must be Sam's girl. _

"Hello, you must be Belle, I've heard so much about you." The lady hugged Belle tightly and Belle awkwardly hugged back. She turned to look at my. "I'm Emily, Sam's fiancée. I'm sorry, but, who are you?" she was very kind. It made it hard to dislike her, no matter how much she hurt Leah. I smiled lightly at her. "I'm Blake, Belle's cousin. I didn't think I would've been talked about." She reached out and hugged me, only, unlike Belle, I hugged back normally. "It's nice to meet you." She whispered. Another thing that didn't happen with Belle. "You too." I whispered back and she let go.

"I love your hair, by the way. I've always wanted curls." She told me, and I blushed. "Thank you. I like yours too; my hair refuses to grow past my shoulders anymore." It wasn't a lie, per say. It could grow, with the help of the right spell, but I was too lazy to try. My hair, after I had turned eighteen and ascended to my full powers, had turned red. Red curly hair and green eyes.

"Sam should be back soon Em, him and Paul decided to run." One of the boys, Jared, told her and she nodded. "Well, come inside, all of you," she gave me a look like she thought I would wander off. _Maybe she _has_ heard of me._ I thought. "I just finished making muffins." The boys cheered and ran inside, leaving me, Belle and Emily alone.

When we got inside and to the kitchen, the boys already had one whole tray of massive muffins gone. I wish I could say that surprized me, but it didn't. It obviously shock Belle though. "Oh my God! How'd you eat that fast?!" Belle exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "They eat like they're going to the electric chair." I snorted. As much as I like Leah, her cousin is awesome too.

Just then, Sam and Paul came in the door. "Hey sweetie!" Sam picked Emily up and kissed her. I rolled my eyes at their mushy-ness. "Sit, down, now." Emily said to Paul, she let me stand though. Belle was staring full out at Emily's scars. "Bells." I said to get her attention. "How's school going?" I asked. "Pretty good actually. Not failing anything." She replied and I nodded. She turned and was looking at Emily again.

"May I ask how you got those scars?" I put my head down and took deep breaths. _Good Gods,_ I thought, _she's gonna get herself killed. _Everybody in the room stiffened Emily and Sam the most, not that she noticed.

"I was mauled by a bear." Lie. I knew that was a lie because that's what I had told everyone when I was attacked. Belle nodded slowly, and then opened her big mouth. "Blake was mauled by a bear a couple of years ago." She looked like she had just been told the meaning of life when she shot up from her chair and pointed at me. "It wasn't a bear, was it? It was the shifter, the one you were talking about in the field!" she was glaring. "Belle," I started, but I was cut off. "Which means that you were attacked by a shifter too. Was it Sam? It was, wasn't it?" I was appalled. "Belle!" I snapped, but she ignored me. "Blake was right, you guys _do_ have poor control." Sam was shaking violently now. "Sammy, baby, it's okay." Emily put her hand on Sam but he jerked it off.

"This is crazy!" I cut her off. "You're damn right it is. You come into someone's home and then start yelling about being attacked, I taught you better than that. Now _sit down._" I put as much power as I could into the last two words. She sat, but I felt the wolf sitting next to where I was leaning against the wall, Paul, growl.

"Sam." Emily whispered, but Sam still shook on. I walked over slowly, but I felt Paul growl again. Ignoring him, I came to stop in front of Sam. "Sam," I sing-songed lightly. "I need you to calm down now, okay?" the shaking was less violent now. I knew what I had to do; I needed to do what Witches have had to do for the past 3000 years. "Sam, calm down now. It's okay, you're okay and so is Emily." I was practically singing now. His shaking had all but stopped when Belle decided to help. "Yeah, plus, you're scaring her. Me too." All humanity left Sam's eyes, and I realized that that must have been a trigger for him. "_Shut up!_" I threw at Belle. "Sam," I sing-songed again, hope lacing my voice. "I need you to calm down now. Okay Sweetie? Calm down now, no one's hurt." He pretty much stopped shaking again. "How are you doing that?" Belle asked quietly, as if that would help.

_GODS DAMMIT!_ I thought as his shaking started again. "Belle! I need you to _stop talking_!" hearing the anger in my voice, Belle piped down and Sam was about three seconds away from losing it. "Oh, for the love of the Gods." I growled, slamming both my hands to the sides of his throat. "_**SLEEP!**_"

_CRASH!_

The next thing I knew I was on the floor with a sleeping giant in top of me. "Ugh!" I felt him squeeze the air out of my chest and I started to struggle. "Help!" I wheezed out. Immediately, the wolf, Paul, was there along with Jared and Embry, lifting him off of me and onto a chair. "Thanks." I choked out. "You guys are heavy." They all chuckled. My view was suddenly filled with Paul. He reached down and held out his hand. I shook my head slightly. "I'm good, thanks, plus, I'm too heavy." I said pulling myself up. He looked rejected but walked back and leaned on the wall where I had been, gesturing at the chair he had been sitting in. All of the boys looked at us funny.

"Thanks!" I chirped, sitting down. "Um, Blake, not that I don't appreciate it, but when will Sam, um…" she trailed off, "Wake up?" I asked and she nodded. "Um, about, fifteen minutes or so, I assume. It usually lasts longer, but I was panicking and you guys burn through magic at around the same pace you burn through magic." She nodded. The silence was as long as it was awkward. "Well, Belle, I think we've over stayed our welcome. Let's go." She nodded and stood up. "Thank You Emily." She mumbled before walking outside with her head down. Immediately, the tension was cut in half. "Thank you, and tell Sam I'm sorry for using on him without his consent." I turned to walk out the door when a hand grabbed my arm. I turned around and came face-to-face with Emily. "I think you should be here when he wakes up, just so you can explain it to him and stuff. Plus, I think he wanted to talk to you about some things." I nodded. "I have to make sure Belle gets home, but I can be back here in under ten minutes." She looked amazed. "How?" I smirked. "To me, the speed limit is more or less a guideline. A suggestion really." She rolled her eyes and let me go.

I walked out to the truck with Belle. "I'll drive." I told her, holding my hands out for the keys. "Why?" she handed me the keys anyway. "Because riding with you is like Driving Miss Daisy." I told her and started the car.

I pushed the truck as fast as it could go and hit the road. The only thing going through my mind was that I had to get back before Sam woke up.

_**PAUL'S POV**_

We listened to Blake tell Belle she drove like an old lady and I watched out the window as the truck went faster than what I thought safe for the old rust bucket to go.

"So, Paul, you were being extremely nice to Blake." Emily cooed. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I glared. "No!" I snapped. "Are you sure?" Embry teased. "Listen here you little shit," I started, but stopped once I heard Sam start to stir. "Where's Blake?!" Emily was panicking. "I'm here." She said as she popped into the room.

"Whurgablemic!" Sam shouted as he shot up, suddenly wide awake. "Wow, wow, wow, baby, you're okay." Sam was frantically looking around the room until he saw Blake, then he looked angry. "What'd you do to me?!" he yelled, and Blake flinched, backing up slightly. "I put you to sleep. Believe me, I didn't want to, but Belle kept interrupting the Calling and-" Sam cut her off. "Calling?" she nodded. "Witches have been doing for the last 3000 years. It's where you use your voice to manipulate someone's behaviour. I had you almost calmed down a couple times before I had to put you out. I promise, if there was a way I could have kept up the Calling instead of putting you down, I would have." Her arms were crossed in a defiant way, making her leather jacket pull tight across her back. Sam nodded. "Thank You, Blake, if I had hurt Emily a second time." His voice broke so Blake covered for him. "It's no problem. I'm sorry for Belle." Sam nodded and Emily curled into his lap.

"Um, Emily said that you wanted to talk to me about some things?" Sam nodded again and I perked up. "Yes, I wanted to invite you to the bonfire next weekend, I was hoping you could tell us about you and your kind." She nodded chuckling. "That has to be the nicest way of asking me to be your show and tell project _ever_." I snorted. _She sure is something else. _I thought, shaking my head. "No, no, that's not it-" he was cut off. "I know, I'm just not nice. If you're sure you can deal with me, I'll-" Jacob cut her off. "I don't think that's a good idea." She nodded. "He's right, as much as that hurt to say." She agreed. Sam shot Jake a glare.

"If you're sure. On an unrelated note, who're staying with?" Emily cut in. "Um, I sent my bags to Dad's place for tonight, but he lives in a shack, I guess is the best way to describe it. Kinda like Hagrid's hut." She said. "After that? No idea." "Who's your Father, sweetie?" she opened her mouth but Jake cut her off, again. "Old Crazy Dan the Drug Addicted Hippie." As quick as anything, Blake had Jacob against the wall with her arm crushing his throat. "If you _ever_ refer to my Dad like that again, I will _drag_ you out of your house in the middle the night by your _hair _and _castrate _you, understood?" he nodded frantically, panic swelling in his eyes. She nodded and turned to Sam and Em. "I'll see you at the bonfire." She snarled before walking out the door.

I heard her start her bike and drive down the road. "Well," Sam started. "I think that went well." We chuckled as Jake glared. "Jared, Paul, your shift." We nodded and headed out.

_**BLAKE'S POV**_

On my way to Dad's house, I kept thinking about the pack. They seemed nice enough, minus Jacob. Sam was their leader; Jared was his second in command, Paul his third. Jacob and Sam obviously clashed over power on numerous occasions. They all seemed really protective over Embry, even if they tried not to show it. Their hierarchy of power sit well with me. I trusted Sam more than I did any other Alpha I've come across, and Jared seems nice. Paul, I couldn't describe it, but I trusted Paul. I knew for a fact I could take Jake, and Embry was always a sweet heart, so I wasn't worried over him. Quil, one of Jake's friends I'd met in the past, was my guess for next to phase. I wasn't all that worried about him, he was harmless. A massive flirt, granted, but harmless none the less. After that would probably come Seth. I smiled at the thought. Seth was a cute kid, always friendly and bubbly. _He and Emilia would probably get along._ I thought. _Really well._

I turned off of the highway and cut through a field, coming to stop at Dad's hut in the woods. There was smoke coming out of the make shift chimney, and his bike was there too.

"Hey Daddy!" I called, walking through the door. "Bear! Bear you're home!" he seemed so excited, and it broke my heart, knowing I would have to tell him why I was here. He scooped me up into a massive bear hug. I hugged back tightly, finally letting the tears fall. "Bear? Bear what's the matter?" he asked, concern washing over his features as he wiped my eyes. I started to sob then. "D-Daddy?" Was all I could get out. He picked me up bridle style, as if I weighed nothing, and carried me to the bed. I cuddled right into him, finally, after four months, feeling truly at home. He rocked me in his lap, my Linkin Park tee shirt crumpling. "Sh-She knows." I hiccupped. "About the w-wolves and about m-me and now I h-have to s-st-stay h-h-here until she turns eigh-eighteen and Daddy I don't know what to do anymore and I n-need h-help." I hadn't stuttered that badly since I was a kid. Dad nodded and rubbed my back, not saying anything until I finally stopped crying.

When I finally did stop, he started to speak. "She turns eighteen in what, September? You can hold out until then. And, as much as I hate to say it, those boys are the least of your worries. Word through the Covenant is that that crazy bitch, Victoria, has been seen around here, looking for Belle." My blood went cold and the tears came back full force. I was shaking from the force of my sobs.

After about ten more minutes, I calmed down again. Dad continued to rock me back and forth. "Where am I gonna go after tonight?" I managed to whisper. He sighed. "Let's deal with that tomorrow, for now; I have to deal with some stuff, so go to sleep." I nodded and curled into my ball.

I stayed awake just long enough to see Dad put what looked like a massive black egg into a cauldron over the fire.

*the morning after*

"OW! SHIT!" I woke up to Dad yelling and flailing. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Sorry, dumb question. Do you need first aid?" I was speaking really fast. He shook his head. "I'm okay Bear." I nodded. "What happened?" he looked embarrassed. "The water was hotter than I realized." I chuckled at my Dad. "Why are you putting your hands in hot water anyway?" he looked ashamed. "I have a… thing." I nodded. "Vague and cryptic, must be from behind the Veil?" I shot and he looked down. I sighed. "If the Covenant catches you..." he nodded. "I know, I know. If the Covenant catches me trying to blend our worlds together, I'll get in trouble." I nodded. "I know it sucks, but it's the rules." He nods. "So what's this thing you have?" his face lit up. "An amazing surprize!" I pouted. "Daddy!" he chuckled. "Sorry Bear." I stuck my tong out at him.

"What're you gonna do today?" I shrugged. "I might call Emmy, and I'll probably go to the beach. Or go into town. I also need to find a place to stay." My head started to hurt. "Finding somewhere to stay will be good, but, I don't think I can today." I didn't understand, but I felt as if I just couldn't. I couldn't wrap my head around looking for somewhere to live. Dad nodded.

"Why don't you head down to Belle's? See if she wants to do something." I nodded. "Good idea, thanks." He nodded and I grabbed some clothes and things from my bag before deciding I would get ready there, since here had a really shitty shower.

_POP!_

When I opened my eyes I was in Belle and Charlie's kitchen, and Charlie and Belle were sitting at the table. "Hello!" Belle started to giggle and Charlie's mouth was open. "I don't even care anymore." He mumbled. "Can I use your shower? Dad's still sucks." Charlie nodded and I ran upstairs.

I stripped and got in the shower, letting the hot water get rid of all of my worries. I was in there a while, just standing there, before I started to wash my hair. I washed my hair and myself and then I got out. I dried myself off and got dressed. I put on a pair of black skinny jeans, a Billy Talent tee shirt and my black combat boots. I threw on my pentagram necklace and walked out of the bathroom after zapping my old clothes back into my bag at Dad's.

"Hey Blake, it's sunny out, do you wanna go to First Beach?" Belle asked. "Can we? Like, are we allowed?" Belle nodded. "I already talked to Jake." She confirmed. I sighed and snapped my fingers, my bathing suit replacing my undergarments and an old plain black tee shirt pops into my hand. "Why the tee?" Belle asked. "No reason." I lied. You see, I was horribly insecure about myself now that I had the scars_. That damned wolf. _I thought bitterly. "Leah." Belle looked at me like I was insane. "I want to stop and get Leah." Belle sighed but nodded. I popped my phone into my hands and started to text her.

_Heyyyyyyy First Beach in 20? Bells and I are on our way?_

**Kk see you then!**

_Kk see ya chick!_

**See ya!**

I got into the truck, on the passenger's side, and buckled in. "Can you _please_ drive fast? Or at the very least the speed limit?" she sighed and nodded, as if _I _was the difficult one. I rolled my eyes and started playing in my phone. I was playing Flappy Bird when we pulled up to the Clearwater's. I hopped out of the truck.

"Hey, hey, hey, did you miss me?" I called out to her. "Yes, of course!" she laughed, throwing her arms around me. It was good to hear her laugh. "Come on, I'll ride bitch with you." She shook her head. "What?!" I laughed. "I'll ride in the truck bed with you." I said slowly. She chuckled and crawled in. I followed and hit the back window as a signal to tell Belle to move.

"So, how was Canada?" her voice was tight and I knew she hated it when I left, but I hated it when she yelled, so we were kinda even. "It was fun. Emilia was a riot. You two would _adore_ one another." She nodded. "I really missed you though." She smiled. "How's La Push been? Boring, without me, I assume." I teased and she chuckled. "Pretty much. You left and I wasn't on speaking terms with Em," her voice cracked. "I have no other friends and…" she trailed off. I crawled over to her side of the truck. "I'm not leaving again. Ever." I wrapped my arms around her. "I'm sorry for leaving, but it's something I had to do." she nodded, wiping her face and pulled away from me. "No more sap, how do I look?" I looked at her. She was wearing a purple and white two piece and her hair was in the smallest ponytail I had ever seen, but, she still had her Momma's natural good looks. "Amazing." I told her, and honestly, she did.

The truck stopped five minutes later and we were at the beach. It wasn't as warm as it should have been, so not a lot of people were there. "Ready to hit the water?" she asked, finally excited over something. "One sec, gotta change." She nodded and jerked to the water. "Go on." I told her, and she took off running.

I finished taking my pants off and changing my top in time to see the pack walk onto the beach. _Shit!_ I thought. _Leah!_


	3. The Day Out

_**BLAKE'S POV**_

"Leah!" I screeched down to her, and she looked up to me. "Your necklace!" I screamed, remembering she was wearing it. She ran back up to me. "Thanks, Little Red." She took it off and put it in the cup holder in the truck. Belle, always the oblivious one, starts freaking out after she saw Jake. "Jakey! Hey you guys!" I shook my head.

Leah turned around and I saw her face drain of colour. "Race to the water?" she nodded and took off, brushing past the pack. "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE THAT FAST!" I yelled to her, taking off after her. She hit the water, laughing, and dove in without hesitation. Me, on the other hand, I dove out of there so fast I kicked up sand. "WHY IS IT SO COLD?!" She laughed, splashing me. My mouth fell open. "Oh, you _did not_ just do that!" she smirked, "Oh, but I did!" I bent over and picked up sand.

_SQUIDGE! _

I heard the sand hit her, but I didn't have a chance to see _where_, because I hauled mega ass outta there. "BLAKE SWAN I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" She screamed, coming out of that water faster than I had. Before I knew it, she grabbed my waist and pulled me into a hug, her soaking wet and me wailing like a banshee. "LEAH CLEARWATER I SWEAR TO THE SKY ABOVE IF YOU DO NOT _PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT _I'M GONNA LET YOU LIVE _JUST_ LONG ENOUGH TO REGRET IT!" She just laughed and held tighter. I stated to buck so she let me go. I quick like a bunny ran up to the truck and grabbed the bucket from the back. "_What _are you _doing_?" Belle snarked. "Grabbin' a bucket." "Why?" I rolled my eyes. "You dragged me to the beach, you're not allowed to know." She looked embarrassed. "Belle told us _you _dragged _her_." Jared pointed out. "You lie like a rug!" I growled. "I was perfectly okay grabbing Leah and heading to the mall, but she insisted on coming here. Now, if you don't mind, Sam, I have to go bury your ex." Sam flinched. _Serves him right. _

I ran back down to Leah, stopping once to scoop up sand, and came to a stop behind her back. Silently, I lifter the bucket and dumped it on her. "AAAAAHHHHHGGGGGG!" She screeched. I tossed the bucket and ran. She picked up the bucket, filled it and tossed water at me. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" My scream was shrill and way higher pitched than hers.

*Two hours later*

Leah and I were both lying in the sand with our feet in the water, covered in drying mud, trying to catch our breath. After a few minutes, we heard obnoxious laughing. I turned to look up to see the pack sitting on towels, with Belle in the middle, playing on her phone. I rolled my eyes and turned to see Leah looking like she was about to cry, facing the sky. "Say something funny." She whispered. "Yesterday, Belle did something stupid so we had to go to Em's place, and I ended up knocking Sam out for like…20 minutes." I threw out. That did it, because she started cackling like a mad woman, eyes closed and her knees pulled up.

"You're something else entirely, did you know that?" I smirked. "I'm well aware thank you." She nodded. "I feel like I belong on Scooby-Doo." I said after five minutes of silence. "What?" Leah asked, leaning up on her arms. "Yeah, I can hear Velma now. "I knew that the Mud Monster of First Beach La Push was Blake Swan all along, I just didn't know her motives until now. Her motives where that she was trying to get back at her friend, rightfully so, who was the reason she got pneumonia and died."" I said. She laughed. "If you were dead, how were you the Mud Monster?" "I was a ghost." She squinted at me. "Then why would you need a costume if you were already scary?" I thought for a moment. "Man, why do you always gotta poke holes in my things." She shook her head, but the pack laughed again. Her face fell.

"Do you wanna get outta here? We can shower at yours and go to the mall or something? I could swing back around to get you?" she nodded. "Let's go, now please." She whispered and I walked up to Belle. "Give me your keys." I held out my hand. "What? Why?" she asked. "Leah and I want to leave, and you obviously _don't_, so give me your keys and have Jacob take you home." She looked at him. "Will you?" he nodded so she tossed me the keys. "Put towels on the seats." I snorted. "Like we could ruin the old hunk o' junk." I walked away, ignoring her calling after me to listen to her. When I got to the truck, Leah was there, shivering with a towel wrapped around her. "Come on, let's go." She nodded and climbed in.

We drove in silence for the next twenty minutes.

When I dropped her off, I drove back to Uncle Charlie's. "I'm back! Belle's gonna get a ride with Jake and I'll be outta here in about fifteen minutes!" I shouted, walking up the stairs. "Be safe!" was all he shouted back. I grabbed a quick shower, zapped myself dry and dressed and got out to the truck in record time. I was wearing black skinny jeans, a yellow sparkly top and my black leather jacket with my combat boots and Pentagram necklace.

When I arrived at the Clearwater's for the second time that day, Seth was out front instead of Leah. "Hey Hot Stuff!" I called, walking over to him. He blushed bright red at the nickname. "H-hey Blake!" always cheerful this one. "Leah's having a wardrobe crisis and I think you should help her out so I don't have to." I gave him a look. "Do you _usually _help her?" he nodded. "She used to do this all the time when her and Sam were a thing, and I always used to have to convince her she looked fine. She'll probably respond better to you." I smiled. "You're one-in-a-million kiddo." I told him honestly before walking into the house. "LEAH!" I yelled and I heard Harry and Sue laugh. "Hey Sweetie! Haven't seen you in a while!" Sue hugged me and Harry nodded. "I had some things to clear up down in Canada." I nodded to Harry. I think Harry always knew that I wasn't quite human, but I really don't think he cared all that much.

Leah walked out a few minutes later, wearing blue jeans and a blue tank top with a white cover up. "Ready to go?" I nodded. "BYE MR AND MRS LEAH'S PARENTS!" I heard them laughing all the way out to the truck. "Hey Seth, do I look okay?!" Leah called out to him and he nodded, holding two thumbs up, smiling like an idiot before turning back to his friends, who I hadn't even noticed were there.

"You and Seth have such a cute sibling-y relationship!" I squealed. She rolled her eyes but nodded. "He's my best friend." She whispered; low enough that I wouldn't have heard if my senses were that of a human. I pulled out of the drive way and we were racing to the mall. "The mall's in Seattle right?" I nodded. "Where are we gonna go _here_?" she laughed and I smiled, blowing past the speed limit.

When we got to Seattle, Leah was smiling and laughing and singing along to some pop song on the radio while I had to focus on not crashing. "Where to first?" I asked. "Sall's Dress Shoppe" I looked at her. "Some guy names Sall sells dresses?" someone cut in since we were walking down the sidewalk. "Sall is gender fluid." Leah explained and the lady nodded. "Oh, okay, all the more power to Sall." She smiled and walked away. "That was weird." I nodded. "City folk." Leah laughed and led the way.

Sall, who decided today was a girl day, had a sign at the front desk that says. "Today I would prefer female pronouns please." _I like Sall already!_ I thought excitedly. "Leah! Darling!" a lady, who must have been Sall, called. She was wearing a pretty blue dress and she had an awesome hair cut where her hair was half shaved and she had the rest of it pushed to one side. She was blond and wearing some makeup.

"Hey Sall! Can you help us with something please?" Sall nodded, scanning me up and down. "I want my dear friend Blake over here to get a dress!" she said with a fake sweetness I knew not to trust. "I'm okay, really-" I was cut off. "Nonsense! Everybody should have a dress that makes them feel _fantastic_ about themselves!" I couldn't help but smile at Sall. She had a real charm you didn't find in most people today. "Ok, fine, you can use me as a Barbie! I consent!" she and Leah looked really excited as they dragged me to the back. They were rooting around in the back for a good five minutes before they came back out with a red dress that would cover my back and shoulders nicely. "Leah tells me you dislike having your back shown." I nodded, taking the dress in my hand lightly. I would go down to my knees and there was a black ribbon wrapping around it. It looked _beautiful_. _Too beautiful for you_ the nagging voice in the back of my head said. I frowned. "Thank you, it's _flawless__,_ but I-I don't think _I _can pull it off." I reached over to hand it back. "You're trying it on." She demanded. I gave her a look. "You're pushy, but okay." She smiled and walked away, letting me change. "LEAH! TIME TO FIND YOU A DRESS TOO!" I giggled. "NOT HAPPENING SALL!" I pulled the dress on. "OH YES, IT IS!" I tied the ribbon but I couldn't get the zipper up. "Um, Sall, could you maybe, come help, um, help me with, like, the zipper?" I had barley spoken above normal inside voice when she came over. She got much closer than I thought necessary, and I was gonna say something until she started to speak. "I know what you are." She whispered, and my blood ran cold. "And, I know what attacked you." I was starting to panic. "I just want to thank you for coming back, Leah really needs a friend she can talk to 24/7." I was starting to relax. She zipped the zipper. "You look _wonderful!_" she said excitedly. "LEAH COME SEE THIS!" she cried. Leah came rushing over to us, wearing a _stunning_ blue and crème coloured dress. "You look amazing!" she says. "You're stunning!" I turned to Sall. "And _you_," she looked nervous. "you my dear are a _genius!_" she smiled.

"How much?" I asked. "Well, since this is the first time in my shop and Leah is a loyal costumer, I'd say… $80 for both?" I nodded frantically, so did Leah. "I'll ring 'em up for you!" Leah got to take her dress off first, since there was only one proper change room and people had come into the store.

I was walking around the shop, looking at the jewelry when I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Hi!" Emily's cheery voice sang. "Hello, Sam," I nodded to him. "Emily." I smiled at her. "You look amazing! Are you here alone?" she asked. "Thanks so much! And no, I'm here with Leah." Their smiles fell. "Oh, well where is she?" I forced a smile. "Changing out of a _stunning_ dress she's gonna get. I have to go, we're spending the day together." I turned around. "Wait! Have you found anywhere to stay yet?" I shook my head no. "Why?" they smiled. "Well, we have plenty of room and we wanted to know if you would stay with us?" they looked so hopeful. "Really? You'd do that?" they nodded, but then I remembered Leah. "I-I'm sorry, but, Leah's still one of my best friends, and, I just, I don't think I can do that to her." they frowned.

"BLAKE! YOU CAN CHANGE NOW!" Leah yelled. I smiled. "COMING! I'M JUST CHECKIN' OUT THE BLING!" I heard her laugh from all the way out here. "Bye! And thank you _so_ much for the offer." I skipped up to the change rooms and zapped my clothes back on. "You change quickly." She commented. I shrugged. We walked up to the front where Sall was waiting for us at the counter. She rang up our things and smiled as we handed over the money.

"Thank you! Have a nice day." It sounded both automatic and sincere. "You too." She nodded and went back to doing what she was doing before we got there. "What'd she write on yours?" I gave Leah a look. "On my what? Oh my Gods did she mark the dress?!" Leah laughed. "On your recipe dumbass!" she said. "Oh." I pulled the recipe from my bag. _You'd __better__ be wearing this to the next Covenant meeting. Xoxo Sall. _"It says "Red is _so_ your colour!"" I lied. She nodded. "Yours?" she blushed. "He'll come crawling back when he sees you wear this!" I smiled; glad to know other people were so supportive of Leah.

"Leah?" I asked after a few minutes of driving. "Yeah?" I bit my lip. "On a scale of 1-to-10, 1 being completely cool with it, 10 being I would never speak to you again, how mad would you be if I moved in with Sam and Emily?" she didn't say anything for a long time. "Why would you?" I flinched. "I have nowhere else to go. Think of it like this." She nodded. Say what you like about Leah, but never let it be said she couldn't be reasoned with. "Dad's is too small, so is Uncle Charlie's, I'm broke and your family is already cramped for space, so don't try it. They've offered and I know them." She shook her head. "Some other way…" she mumbled. "Leels," I started, using her old nickname. "I won't _enjoy_ living there or anything, and, I'd be out in a few months after I've landed on my feet and have found a job with a steady paycheck." She showed no sign of hearing me. "If there was any other way I could think of to avoid this, I would. I don't _want _to live with them. I dislike Sam _intensely _and Emily gets on my nerves, but I don't see any other solution here!" truth be told, I was probably more worked up than she was. "I-I don't think I'm okay with it just yet." She mumbled. "I might be, one day, soon even, if I wasn't still so into him. I loved him. I love him. I can't get over that, but he's obviously more happy with her than he was with me." She stopped.

"When you make up your mind, tell me." I said softly. "For now, are you hungry?" I looked at the clock. "It's five thirty and I'm hungry." She nodded. "Where to?" Leah thought for a moment. "Burger King." _Okay, _I thought, _she's coming around._

We got to Burger King and ordered, sitting down at the table farthest from the door. We ate in silence until I saw the pack-AGAIN! "Oh come _on!" _I almost shouted, but the pack heard me and turned to look at us. I saw one guy-Jared-smirk at Paul, and then Paul whacked him. Then, to make matters worse, Sam and Emily saw us too. "_Shit!_" I cursed. Leah sighed and stood up, taking hers and my garbage with her. "I'll be in the truck." She grumbled, stomping past the pack. As soon as she was out the door I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket.

**As long as I don't have to see them, my answer is 5**

I almost cried with relief, and I was smiling so hard I hurt my face. "One problem down, 500 more to go." I whispered.

"Blake! Hi! I really hope you've reconsidered our offer?" I sighed and stood up; Emily took my arm and led me to their booth. "You too, are pushy." I said. "I just ate, and Leah is in the truck." She didn't listen and shoved me down into the booth. "Wow, okay, hi." I said, and a couple of the boys chuckled. "I'm serious though, like, Leah's waiting and yeah, I have to go." Emily sat down next to me, effectively trapping me. "OK!" I exclaimed. "_What _do you want?" Emily's smile never faded. "Have you reconsidered our offer?" I sighed. "Why do you want me to live with you so much?" her smile widened. "Because, I'm really hoping that with you, I can bring Leah back into our lives." As much as I appreciated their offer, red hot anger burned inside me. I slammed my hands on the table, making Emily flinch.

"You know what? I talked to Leah about me moving in, and she hates the idea but she said she would agree as long as she _never_ had to see you! She's angry and has every right to be!" Em's smile fell and Sam looked upset too. "You told her you were too dangerous to be around, and now, not two years later, you're planning on marrying her cousin _who you've scared!_ I know it was out of your control, but _she_ doesn't! She _hates _you and Em, but she hates the _idea_ of you and Em _more!" _I was ready to start to scream when I remembered that these were my only people left to turn to. "I would move in with you, but you'll have to be okay with not being able to use me to lure Leah back to you first." I said firmly.

There was a silence, and I was beginning to reprime myself for not playing along. "We don't want you to stay with us _just_ so we can get to Leah; we're also worried about you." Sam said gently. I looked up at him. "Are you? Or are you worried about what I can do?" there was a pause. "Both." He said truthfully. I nodded. "Leah's waiting." I started, Emily started to interrupt. "but," she stopped. "I can come to yours later and we can discuss details if you still want me." They nodded. "That's great! Come by around 8:00 and we can go over details and get to know each other!" Emily, I was beginning to realize, was easily excitable.

"I have to go, for real this time, but I'll see you later." Emily moved so I could get up. "Wait!" Paul said. "Yeah?" I asked, and he grabbed my upper arms and _glared_ into my eyes. At least, it started as a glare. As time passed, his gaze softened along with his grip. "Imprint." He whispered. "Let me go." I whispered back, and he immediately released me.

As I walked out to the car, I remembered where I had heard the word imprint before. _SHIT! _I thought. _THAT BASTARD'S MY ET MEDIA PARS MIHI! _

I ran the rest of the way to the truck and threw myself inside. "You okay?" Leah asked. "Yeah." I lied. "I'm good, let's just go." Obviously sensing that I didn't wanna talk, Leah let it go. I dropped her back at her place and dropped the truck off at Uncle Charlie's and raced home to Dad, going fast, even for me.

"DADDY!" I screeched, but instead of my Dad alone, I was met with my Dad holding a baby dragon. _You have _got _to be fucking kidding me!_


	4. The Mark (fixed)

**_PAUL'S POV_**

As soon as I looked into her eyes, I knew.

I knew that no matter what, she had to come first. I knew that anything and everything else that made me who I am, lost all its value. I knew that my family, my friends, my enemies, and even my own _name _no longer held any meaning, that she triumphed all of that. I knew that I couldn't hurt her or let her be hurt. I knew that in some way I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. I knew, that even if she rejected me, she would be part of who I was forever. I knew that gravity no longer held me where I stood, but instead it was her. I knew that you could hold a gun to my head and I would still pick her. I knew that I would never pull a Cullen and leave her alone. I knew that I would become her protector. I knew that my duty to the pack and to the tribe were nothing compared to my duty to her.

But most of all, I knew that I loved her. And I knew that I would love her until my final breath and I knew that in my final breath would be the words "I love you." I knew that she was my oxygen, my gravity, my hearts reason for beating. I knew that I had never been so sure of anything else in the world. I knew that I should have been scared but instead I felt elated. Like a weight had been lifted, like my other half had finally returned to fill the void I hadn't even known was there.

"Imprint." Was all I had managed to choke out. "Let me go." She had told me, and I released her without meaning to. She walked away. Away from the building and away from me. I slumped down in my seat, already wanting today to be done with. "Paul?" Emily asked softly. My eyes snapped open and a glare reappeared on my face. She didn't seem at all phased, probably used to my outbursts at this point. "What?" I snapped. "Are you okay?" that did it. I had no idea why that made me so angry, but it did. I stood harshly and ran out.

I ran into the woods and phased, not caring if someone saw or if someone found my now shredded clothes. _Paul! Calm down man, this is a good thing! _Embry's annoyingly optimistic thoughts somehow only succeeded in making it worse. _Fuck off! This is not a good thing! This is horrible and life ruining and I'm not gonna talk about it, so don't even try to get me to with your bullshit cheerful routine! _I could feel the hurt coming off him in waves, and I immediately knew I went too far, but I couldn't stop. _It's getting old really fast okay? Nobody is actually that cheerful! It just doesn't happen. The faster you learn that, the better off you are kid. _I was still running, and I could still feel Embry's presence in my head, but he was finally silent. After a few minutes, he started again. _Maybe. But maybe it's you who needs to learn that not everybody is gonna hurt you. I'm not as cheerful as you think I am either, but I am optimistic. Blake…she's the one man. She's your imprint and nothing is gonna change that and I know now what you were thinking when you looked into her eyes I can guarantee that if you say even half that shit out loud you'll get the girl. You'll get a beating from the pack to go along with it, but you'll get her. She's yours, and you've got about an hour and a half to come up with a game plan. _He was still there, but he was silent again. _I've never been hurt. _Was the first thing I could think of. _I've cut off everyone before they could do any damage. _I had been trying to sound tough, but I just came out as pitiful, even to me. _That's not good, man, that's unhealthy. You're also wrong. _He told me. _How am I wrong? _I wasn't trying to be menacing, I was curious as to how this kid I've known a whole two moths could possibly know anything about me I didn't already understand.

_Sam and Jared. They hurt you. When Sam left, you were upset, so you and Jared made a pact never to ditch each other and then six months later he left you too. You were alone for two months and when you finally got to be with them again, it was because you were phasing. They were gonna leave you alone forever. Plus, they used everything they had against you. You used to be a fragile, nerdy, mellow kid. You remember Jared kicking you in vivid detail._ I was pissed right off now. _STAY OUTTA MY HEAD! _I mentally roared. I felt Embry phase back and then there was silence. I kept running. I had no idea where I was going until I came across a clearing. I lied down and decided to sleep outside that night.

**_BLAKE'S POV_**

"REALLY? A _DRAGON! _OF ALL OF THE CREATURES YOU CHOSE A DRAGON!" The stupid smile never left his face. "Yeah! Don't you like him? Look, he likes _you!_" the dragon was circling my legs, nuzzling every once in a while like a cat. "Yeah, it's cute, but do you have idea of how _big_ this thing's gonna get?! Because I can guarantee that your place won't hold him." Dad nodded. "He'll grow as big as a small husky and his breed is real easy to train too. He'll be a great pet." Dad was just so happy, and again it broke my heart. "Daddy, you know the rules." I started, but he cut me off. "Yes, I know the rules, which is why I talked to the Covenant before even _looking_ for an egg." I sighed. "What's the little shit's name?" I asked. "It's up to you, he's yours." I could hear the smugness in Dad's voice. "He's mine!" I was amazed, all Dad had ever wanted was a dragon, and he's giving him to me? "Yep! He's yours." Dad was grinning like a fool. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I launched myself into his arms. He chuckled. "His name is…Fred!" Dad looked confused. "Fred?" I nodded. "Fred." He shrugged.

"You seemed like you had news when you came in, what's up?" I sighed. "I was offered a place to stay down on the rez." Dad looked happy. "That's great! Who with?" I slumped my shoulders. "Sam and Emily." Dad flinched. "Okay, if you want to, I'm okay with it." I smiled. "That's not all." I mumbled. "What else?" he seemed almost angry.

"One of the wolves, Paul Lahote, imprinted on me." Dad had no emotion in his face. "Daddy?" he shook his head and let me go. "Is he your Et Media Pars Mihi?" his voice was tight. "I don't know. I-I think so." Dad sighed.

"I have to go back down to La Push; I'm going to talk over the details with Sam and Em." He nods. "Take Fred with you." I rolled my eyes. "Daddy!" he shakes his head. "Either Fred goes, or you stay." Tough love. "Fine! Are you sure he'll be okay though? He's only a baby." Dad nodded. "Dragons are tough creatures, plus, I've already fed him." I nodded. "Thanks Daddy." I turned and walked away, scooping Fred up as I went.

The thing about Fred was that at that point in time he was the size of an abnormally small kitten, but with claws, he crawled up and sat in my shoulder. "You are not a cat, you know?" he just made some murpy noises and blew some smoke.

I went outside and threw myself onto the bike, starting off down the road. It took about 20 minutes to get to Sam and Em's, since I decided not to cut through the field that time. When I walked up to the door, it was opened before I had a chance to knock. "Hello Sam." I said, trying to be cheerful. "Hello Blake, come on in, Em and the pack are in the kitchen." I stopped dead. "May I ask why the pack's here? Because, uh, yeah I was never told the whole pack lived here." I trailed off and he chuckled, realizing that we were both enjoying the obviously faked politeness. "You may. The pack's here because Em has become a sort of mother to them and yeah, they're also nosey little shits." He said with obvious affection for both his imprint and his pack. "May I ask in return what exactly is sitting on your shoulder?" we were in the kitchen now. "His name is Fred and he's a present from my Dad. I only got him, like, 20 minutes ago I swear." I heard the pack chuckle. "Okay, but what _is_ he?" I stood there. "A dragon." That got a loud roar of laughter. "Ignore them, Freddy, we're better than that." That shut them up.

"So, you said you talked to Leah?" Emily asked. "Yes, and like I said before, as long as I don't make her interact with you guys, she'll be okay." Emily and Sam nodded. "So, we have conditions too." I nodded, mentally already agreeing with them all. "One, no using magic unless asked or it is desperately needed." I nodded. "I can live with that." They smiled. "Sit down; you're making even me tense." Sam joked. I looked around and sat lightly on the arm, since the only other places were the floor or next to Paul in the loveseat. "Two, no sitting on the arms of my furniture." Her tone was joking but her eyes said 'You'd better listen'. I slid off and onto the floor. She frowned but continued to speak. "Three, if he doesn't burn the place down, you can keep Fred." I beamed. "Thank You!" I really was starting to enjoy the company of the little shit sitting on my shoulder. Fred made a little murpy noise again and blew a smoke ring in the shape of a heart toward Emily.

"Awwwww, he's so _cute!_" she cooed. I shrugged. "He's something alright." She giggled. "Can he fly?" I turned to Embry and I shrugged. "Until, like, an hour ago I didn't even know he existed." He nodded and I turned my head to look at Fred. "Can you fly you little shit?" he made a squawking sound and bit my ear. "Ow! What the hell?! You little tyrant! What gives?!" he ruffled his wings at me. "You, my dear lizard, are a piece of work." He blew smoke in my face and I pulled off my shoulder and onto my lap. "If I have to pull a George, I will." He looked at me funny, and so did everyone else. "Nevermind!" I sighed.

"Right," Emily trailed off, "four, no excessive drinking." She said firmly, and I knew that even if I tried, I wouldn't get out of this one. "If it helps," I threw out, "I'm not even 100% on the whole intoxication of the magical community thing. The Covenant forbids drinking at meetings and that'd be the only place I could even _get_ anything strong enough to knock me on my ass." Emily laughed. Like, full on body shaking laughed. "Are you okay? Oh my Gods, what's happening?" once the laughter turned to giggles, she answered. " You have such an odd way of speaking." I sighed, but nodded. "Pretty much yeah I do." She giggled again.

"Okay, I agree to all of your conditions, but, I want you to understand what exactly it is you've just done." They looked worried. "You've just invited a Witch into your lives. I am a protector, and that will always come first. I also have a bad habit of using magic for the dumbest shit." They were starting to relax. "But, you've also let in an upper member of the Covenant." They looked confused. "I have, since I am exceptionally powerful, been trained in combat in order to protect and provide for my Covenant and my charge. It's almost like your wolves. You, Sam, are at the top, but Jared and Paul are too. You all have to fight and, like, keep everyone below you safe." Sam held up his hand. "Are you trying to tell me you're the equivalent to a magical Alpha?" I laughed, I couldn't help it. "No, I'm more along the lines of a beta. The "Alpha" of the Covenant is Maria Sanders." He nodded. "You're powerful?" I was shocked over the fact that it was Paul who asked, not because I thought he wouldn't, just because it was very soft and quiet. I nodded my head and pursed my lips. "Yeah, I am. Fire manipulation is the hardest thing to grasp, and that's my area of expertise, so they want to keep me on their side. I'm pretty high up in ranks, and only about three people are above me, but that's because I'm their junior by about 150 years each." There was a stunned silence. "150 _years?_" Jared eventually spit out. "Yeah, it's a common know fact that Witches are damn near immortal." I said in a 'duh' voice. I saw Paul smirk out of the corner of my eyes, but he also seemed _way _too happy about that.

"Are you still willing to let me stay? It will only be until I can find a job with a steady paycheck." They chuckled. "Of course! Sam told me about your little fire thing, so we figured you were powerful when we asked." I felt like the world had just been lifted off my shoulders. "I can't thank you enough for this. Seriously, I had no idea what I would have had to have done for a place to stay." I heard Paul growl. "Are you okay?" I asked him, he nodded, but the evil look never left his face. "Right, I believe you. Thousands wouldn't, but I do." I teased, and a small smile tugged at his lips.

"If you were worried about not having anywhere to go, why were you so defiant when we asked you the first time?" Em asked. "Leah." Jared scoffed. "What does _she_ have to do with anything?" I growled at him, like actually growled. So did Fred after hearing me. "Watch how you talk about her." I snarled. "Why?" he challenged. "She's a bitter old bitch with anger issues." I stood up, Fred clinging to my hip for dear life, and walked over to him, getting really close to his face. "She's also one of my best friends." I backed up slightly. "Now, I want you to look at this through _her_ point of view. She loved Sam, and was devastated when he left her. But, she respected it, because he said something about being too dangerous to be near. Skip ahead not even two years later. He's planning on marrying her cousin, who she trusted, and I've already ranted about this at Burger King!" he looked scared. "I know it's out of your control, but she thinks you willingly hurt her. Both of you." Emily and Sam flinched.

"I respect your loyalty for Leah, really I do, but is it really above finding a secure place to stay?" He asked. "Yes." I didn't even hesitate. "It is. Leah, she's had enough shit happen to her in the past. She deserves at least one person she's still confident in. Seth," I sighed. "Seth is that person, not gonna lie, but I want her to be able to trust me too. If it means clearing things over with her, then so be it." I was kinda angry still, and Fred was on my shoulder making angry growling noises, supporting my decision. "Couldn't you have just done the phoning thing to her?" Jacob asked. "Calling? Yes. I wouldn't have though." he looked confused. "For the same reason Sam doesn't push his power onto you. In the end, it's taking away someone's will, someone's right to make decisions." He nodded, and, for once, didn't follow through with a smart ass comment.

"When do you move in?" Sam asked. "When can I? Because Emilia will want to help me and she too is a nosey little shit." They chuckled. "As soon as this Emilia character is up here, feel free to start unpacking your things." I nodded, smiling. "Thanks again." He shook his head. "No worries." I nodded and stood up, using the counter to pull myself. "Well, I'd bett-" Emily cut me off. "Would you like to spend the night?" I smiled. "I would love to." I snapped my fingers and pjs and clothes appeared, and a note explaining to Dad why I wasn't gonna be home appeared there.

"How'd you know when exactly to come to Forks?" Embry asked out of the blue. "Uncle Charlie called, and I would have been here way sooner but teleporting over long distances takes a lot out of me." He nodded. "It was dumb luck." I shrugged. I like Embry, I really did, but he wasn't the most social creature ever.

"Well, you can sleep in the spare room, which I guess is your room now." I nodded, and then a wall of sleepiness hit me and I stumbled. "Are you okay?!" oddly enough, it was Paul who asked and he was at my side in a heartbeat. "N-no, I-I think something's wrong." I mumbled, leaning right into him. _Well, I am his imprint, might as well make it official the he's my Et Media Pars Mihi._ He buried his face in my hair and that's when I felt it. The burning of the Mark. "Ow…" I whimpered pitifully. Usually, burning doesn't affect me, but this was different. It had been out of my control and burnt like a motherfucker. "Ow!" I said more urgently. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" It was stupid painful at that point. "What's wrong?" Paul asked. "It hurts." I sounded like a little kid. "What hurts?" His face was still in my hair, and my eyes were shut in pain. "The Mark." I grumbled. He pulled his face away. "That-that doesn't help." He mumbled, but I knew everybody could hear him.

"Look at your arm." I choked out. The pain had been getting to be too much, like fire had been curling around my arm. "GODS DAMMIT!" I sobbed out, crashing against Paul. He scooped me up bridle style and took me to the spare room. The entire time he was mumbling words of comfort. "Don't worry, I've got you, you're safe here." And "I won't let you be hurt." Or, my favourite "I'm here for you, we'll do it together, I promise."

After another five to ten minutes, the burning stopped. "Thank you, Paul, for staying with me." He nodded. "I know you're tired, so I'll let you sleep, but, before I go, do you need help with anything? Getting dressed or undressed?" I smiled. "Even in the darkest of times, you still have a sense of humor don't you?" he nodded. "I try." Him smile turned sincere. "Seriously though, do you need help?" I shook my head no. "Okay and Blake? You should probably what the fuck just happened tomorrow." I chuckled. "Goodnight Paul." He nodded and walked away. "Goodnight Firecracker." I heard him mumble to himself.

Eventually, after about 20 minutes of just lying there, I dragged myself out of bed. I stripped and pulled on my shorts and old Korn tee shirt I stole from Dad. I walked up to the mirror I had in the room and examined the mark. It was intricate lines that started from the same point on my right arm the Paul's tribal tattoo is on his. I smiled. _We match now Iratus Unum. _

I fell asleep with a smile on my face that night, knowing that tomorrow was going to be interesting.

If only I had known just _how_ interesting.


End file.
